Sunday, October 2, 2016

The Retirement Cocktail

"What do you do?"

This is the proverbial cocktail party question that can
haunt you if you're newly retired. In my seminars I encourage participants to
have an answer to this question before stepping over the line into retirement.
And I remind them that the question is in the present tense.

At a recent program I must have been placing too much
emphasis on coming up with an answer that protects one's ego, or gives too much
power to the person asking the question, hoping to meet his or her standard for
an interesting life. That's when a man in the back of the room raised his hand
and said, "When I'm asked 'what do you do?' I tell people that I'm
figuring it out. I view retirement as a time when I get to create balance in my
life. Until now, so much of what I've done has prevented me from living a balanced
life."

That's when I came up with the idea of a retirement
cocktail—a perfect blend of what you want in your life. Not that everything has
to be perfectly balanced. Like a good cocktail, not all ingredients are in the
same amount, and yet a little dash of something can have a big impact.

So, how would you like your cocktail? What ingredients do
you need to create the perfect balance of flavor? If you have read a wine list,
you're familiar with the lengthy descriptions of flavors and characteristics. I
encourage you to write your own cocktail description. Have fun with this
exercise. And mix it up—you don't have to stick with the same drink year after
year!

Here's my version of the Retirement Cocktail: A beautiful
life full of gratitude. An expanded life full of energy. A creative life full
of awe. A shared life full of connections. A meaningful life full of service.